Saturday, May 14, 2016

The strike by 36,000 Verizon workers -- represented by the
Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers (IBEW) -- is about to enter its second month. The striking
Verizon workers have disappeared from the media’s view.

"The ideology of the 1% is that they can do whatever
they want, even if it doesn't make sense," CWA District 1 strike
mobilization coordinator Peter Sikora told Truthout. "It's part of the
1%'s war on workers."

The corporate media have identified some of the key issues
in the strike -- wages, medical and retirement benefits. But this is just the
tip of the iceberg. In 2011, 43,000 Verizon workers struck; in 2016, 36,000 are
on strike. What happened to the missing 7,000 workers, 16 percent of the
workforce? Their disappearance is part of the big squeeze, the outsourcing of
labor costs to maximize profit. Verizon workers see the writing on the wall and
wonder when their jobs will be outsourced. Rightfully suspicious, Verizon
employees ask why the company does not temporarily increase local staffing to
meet demand requirements or distribute heavy volume calls to other nearby --
and unionized -- centers.

Verizon is a very profitable company -- and its customers
are paying for it. It reported 2015 revenues of $131.6 billion and $17.9
billion in profits. In 2015, Verizon sold off $15 billion of its assets and
bought back $5 billion of its stock -- all to goose the stock price and
increase the bonuses of top management. From 2008 to 2013, while Verizon made
over $42.4 billion in U.S. profits, it received a total tax refund of $732
million from the IRS. Verizon's effective U.S. corporate income tax rate over
this six-year period was minus-2
percent. In 2012, Verizon stashed $1.8 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid
paying U.S. income taxes. Since 2003, Verizon has used clever dodges to avoid
paying its fair share of New York State taxes.